Sara Natividad
news@mustangdaily.net
The San Luis Obispo District Attorney’s Office charged former bioresource and agricultural engineering (BRAE) professor Shaun Kelly with a misdemeanor of indecent exposure after witnesses claimed he flashed his genitals in the library this past year.
On May 27, 2012,the University Police Department (UPD) was called to the Robert E. Kennedy Library, UPD Chief George Hughes said.
The officers arrived on the scene and immediately began interviewing potential witnesses and victims, Hughes said. From the information gathered they were able to identify Kelly as a potential suspect, he said.
“We interviewed Mr. Kelly and at that time we didn’t have enough probable cause to make a physical arrest,” he said.
The case was then forwarded from the UPD to the District Attorney’s Office. Once the office reviewed the case, it filed charges on Kelly, Hughes said. The DA was not available for comment.
Cal Poly legal counsel Carlos Cordova wrote in an email to Mustang Daily that UPD informed Kelly he should not return to campus.
Cal Poly immediately investigated the circumstances surrounding the allegation and served Kelly with a Notice of Pending Disciplinary Action-Dismissal on June 14, 2012, Cordova wrote.
“This is the quickest I have seen a discipline served on a faculty member in the 24 years I have worked for CSU,” he wrote.
Kelly’s teaching assignments were covered by other faculty members and the proposed date for his dismissal was Sept. 10, 2012.
However, a collective bargaining agreement provision between CSU and the California Faculty Association prohibited Cal Poly from imposing the disciplinary sanction until the arbitrator heard the case. The hearing was scheduled for Tuesday, but was cancelled when Kelly submitted a letter to Cal Poly stating he was resigning his employment and withdrawing his request for an arbitration hearing.
Kelly further stated that his resignation was not admittance to the disciplinary allegations held against him.
Head Librarian Anna Gold said the alleged incident had no observable effect on the atmosphere of the library, nor are there any concerns regarding the safety of the library. The use continues to climb and since it is busy, it is very safe, Gold said.